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Russia's Samsonova beats Ukraine's Kalinina at WTA tournament in Abu Dhabi

The 25-year-old Lyudmila Samsonova, is currently ranked 15th in the Women’s Tennis Association Rankings and has four WTA titles under her belt

MOSCOW, February 8. /TASS/. Russian tennis player Lyudmila Samsonova defeated Ukrainian Angelina Kalinina in their second-round match at the 2024 WTA Abu Dhabi tennis tournament.

Samsonova, seeded eighth at the tournament, won the match 6-1, 6-3 against Kalinina, who was unseeded. The Russian athlete will face Czech tennis player Barbora Krejcikova, seeded fourth, in the quarterfinals.

The 25-year-old Samsonova, is currently ranked 15th in the Women’s Tennis Association Rankings and has four WTA titles under her belt. Playing on the Grand Slam circuit, she has never made it past the quarterfinals. In 2021, she won the Billie Jean King Cup as part of the Russian national team.

Kalinina, 27, is ranked 32nd in the WTA rankings. She has never won a tournament on the WTA tour. Her best finish at a Grand Slam was reaching the third round of the Australian Open in 2023.

The 2024 Abu Dhabi tournament is a WTA 500 professional tennis event, which is played on outdoor hard courts at the Zayed Sports City International Tennis Centre in Abu Dhabi between February 5 and 11 and has over $922,570 in prize money up for grabs. The reigning champion is Switzerland's Belinda Bencic.

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